“In the Beginning,” a beautiful original stained glass window created by Oak Harbor artist and St. Stephen’s member Larry Marcell, was installed in our sanctuary in 2015.
Welcome to St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
in Oak Harbor on beautiful Whidbey Island!
We are a resilient and faithful parish, having weathered a terrible pandemic that closed our doors for more than a year followed by the sudden loss of our rector after the death of his wife. We are hopeful and filled with positive energy as we continue and expand our mission. Our aspiration is to be known as the most welcoming, inclusive, open, and accepting church in the area. Our history also includes a difficult time 15 years ago, when some of our friends and long-time members left the Episcopal Church, but we were resilient and recovered then, too, and we are committed to the positive path we have set ourselves upon.
We seek a new rector to be with us and who will help harness and focus our hopes and energies to achieve our ambitious goals and priorities. As you will see in this parish profile, many of our key indicators remain in a good place – pledge income has remained very healthy despite the pandemic closure, and ministry and outreach efforts have continued without interruption. You will also see results of our new parish demographic survey showing who we are today, and the insightful commentary from 40 of our parishioners who participated in a number of small group conversations about our future that we held in August 2021.We consider ourselves to be adaptable and open to future changes, but the real glue that holds us together is our love for our traditional liturgy, the Book of Common Prayer and our identity as faithful Episcopalians.
We invite you to get to know us in this profile and join us as we move forward in faith!
In Christ’s Love,
The St. Stephen’s Profile Committee